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I am curious what people think about what (if any) opportunities I have in front of me in the legal world.

In a nutshell:

I had about six years of work experience before entering law school. Not IP. Over those six years I continually and rapidly took on increasing responsibilities and worked with people in prominent positions (CEOs, governors, firm partners) in every type of sector (business, gov't, community, issue advocacy, political, labor, etc). My jobs relied on my ability to network. I also started a couple of small, successful businesses. I sold one (though not for much, but definitely a profit).

I'm at a T-15 law school. I am below median in grades (B's). I actually love law school and love the topics, but this type of work is just REALLY not my thing. I'm used to shorter deadlines, more collaboration, more feedback. (I know, cry me a river. We're all in the same boat.) I have great relationships with a number of my professors and will be working with some on a substantial project.

I will be spending the summer working at a DOJ office. Next year I have two internships lined up with prominent government offices/committees.

I don't think my grades this semester will be much better. Certainly not so much better they will catapult me to median or above median.

So, what do you think? Should I just skip OCI? Have my grades locked me out of working at a firm? (This option doesn't crush me, I have a backup career, but I am curious.) Anyone else go through a similar experience?

I was in a similar boat—T14, 5 years work experience, good references, though my grades were right at median—and did great at OCI. Lots of firms were interested in my work experience, and I had more CBs and offers than many people with better grades than I had. I recommend going for firms with big summer classes who are interviewing many people from your school. If you have ties to more than one area, don't limit yourself, but go for big markets. I ended up with offers at top, top firms. That may be out of the question for you given that you are probably quite a bit below median, but be conservative with your bidding and you should be OK. If you interview well, no reason you shouldn't get a job.

Besides, getting public interest work is probably just as competitive ITE.

Lincoln wrote:I was in a similar boat—T14 . . . my grades were right at median

I am guessing that being below median at UT, UCLA, or Vandy isn't anything like being at median at a T14, just a guess though.

Fair enough. My point was more that I over-performed compared to my peers, and I think work experience was a big part of it. Also, I received several V10 offers, so even if OP's job search "isn't anything like" mine he may very well end up with a job. Besides, skipping OCI is not a solution to OP's problem, so the advice doesn't change.

Work experience won't get you in to firms that have a hard GPA floor; but for those that don't, it can really help. As an older, more experienced law student, I definitely outperformed my GPA at OCI, and so did others I know with real, meaty work experience.